Through their newest 1.70 firmware update for the PS3, Sony has bestowed upon the Japanese buying public a cornucopia (25 to be exact) of PS1 titles for purchase through the Playstation Store. This will also mark the very first time that PS1 titles are playable on the PS3. Before today, they were only playable on the PSP, which makes absolutely no sense.

Blocky characters in 1080p: totally worth $600.

And sadly, not all of the titles that are being released tomorrow are playable on the PS3. You can check out the complete list at PSPFanboy.

Now, although this is only for Japan, it does seem that Sony is at least somewhat trying to do what Nintendo has been doing with their Virtual Console Mondays. Nintendo has been on the ball ever since the service started a week after the Wii’s launch, and after seeing how much profit they stand to gain from doing nothing releasing their old wares, Sony has decided it’s their turn to milk their customers of their hard-earned money. They even increased the price of their PS1 games by a full 100 yen, and didn’t bother to tell anyone about it, either! Oh Sony, you so crazy. I guess PS3-compatibility costs extra now?

It still stands to be seen if Sony will give that overpriced love to the other territories, as they have not officially stated anything as of now. I’m assuming Sony will start updating their PS1 libraries soon in the rest of the world, but if they do go ahead and increase the prices for them in the US and Europe, Sony will lose the advantage of having cheaper downloadable content. I mean, the system is expensive enough. I’m sure PS3 owners don’t want to pay even more money on something that may not even work with their shiny new grill.